Metal ions play an important role in biological systems. Cells utilize metal ions for a wide variety of functions, such as regulating enzyme activity, protein structure, cellular signaling, as catalysts, as templates for polymer formation and as regulatory elements for gene transcription. Metal ions can also have a deleterious effect when present in excess of bodily requirements or capacity to excrete. A large number of natural and synthetic materials are known to selectively or non-selectively bind to or chelate metal ions. Ion chelators are commonly used in solution for in vivo control of ionic concentrations and detoxification of excess metals, and as in vitro buffers. When bound to a fluorophore, ion chelators are typically used as optical indicators of ions and are useful in the analysis of cellular microenvironments or dynamic properties of proteins, membranes and nucleic acids.
Such indicators are also useful for measuring ions in extracellular spaces; in vesicles; in vascular tissue of plants and animals; biological fluids such as blood and urine; in fermentation media; in environmental samples such as water, soil, waste water and seawater; and in chemical reactors. Optical indicators for ions are important for qualitative and quantitative determination of ions, particularly in living cells. Fluorescent indicators for metal cations also permit the continuous or intermittent optical determination of these ions in living cells, and in solutions containing the ions.
A variety of fluorescent indicators that are useful for the detection of biologically relevant soluble free metal ions (such as Ca2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+) have been described that utilize oxygen-containing anionic or polyanionic chelators to bind to metal ions. In particular, fluorescent indicators utilizing a polycarboxylate BAPTA chelator have been previously described (U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,209 to Tsien et al. (1986); U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,673 to Tsien et al. (1991); U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,362 to DeMarinis et al. (1989); U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,517 to Kuhn et al. (1995); U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,980 to Katerinopoulos et al. (1996); U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,276 to Kuhn et al. (1995) (all incorporated by reference). Some fluorescent indicators selective for Li+, Na+ and K+ in aqueous or organic solution have also been described, based on the chemical modification of crown ethers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,232 to Tsien et al. (1992); U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,975 to Kuhn et al. (1995); both incorporated by reference.
In general, a useful property for metal ion indicators is the ability to detect and/or quantify a selected metal ion in the presence of other metal ions. Discrimination of Ca2+, Na+ and K+ ions in the presence of other metal ions is particularly useful for certain biological or environmental samples. For most biological applications, it is essential that the indicators be effective in aqueous solutions. It is also useful that indicators for biological applications be relatively insensitive to pH changes over the physiological range (pH 6-8) and sensitive to ion concentrations in the physiological range (for sodium, a Kd of about 5 mM to about 20 mM). It is also beneficial if the indicator absorbs and emits light in the visible spectrum where biological materials have low intrinsic absorbance or fluorescence.
Also useful are chelators that possess a chemically reactive functional group, so that the chelating group can be attached to polymers for use in remote sensing of ions or enhancing the solubility or localization of the optical sensor. Many chelators bind to intracellular proteins, altering the chelator's metal binding properties. In addition, due to their relatively small size, they are readily sequestered non-selectively in intracellular vesicles, further limiting their effectiveness. One means of circumventing these problems is to attach the desired crown ether to a large, water-soluble polysaccharide, such as dextran or FICOL, by means of modification of the polysaccharide to allow covalent attachment of the indicator. Dextrans and FICOLs are especially suitable for this application, as they are low cost, optically transparent above about 250 nm and available in multiple ranges of molecular weights. Furthermore, polysaccharides and their conjugates are reasonably compatible with most biological materials and do not interact significantly with intracellular components. Although fluorescent polysaccharides have been previously described, as have indicator conjugates of dextrans, none possess the advantageous properties of the indicator conjugates of the current invention.
The crown ether chelators of the invention show significant ability to discriminate between metal ions under physiological conditions, particularly Ca2+, Na+ and K+ ions. This selectivity can be tailored by careful selection of crown ether substituents. The compounds of the invention are typically soluble in aqueous solutions.
The compounds of the invention that act as indicators for target ions absorb and emit light in the visible spectrum and possess significant utility as a means of detecting and quantifying certain metal ion levels in living cells, biological fluids or aqueous solutions. Upon binding the target ion in the chelating moiety of the indicator, the optical properties of the attached fluorophore are generally affected in a detectable way, and this change is correlated with the presence of the ion according to a defined standard. Compounds having relatively long wavelength excitation and emission bands can be used with a variety of optical devices and require no specialized (quartz) optics, such as are required by indicators that are excited or that emit at shorter wavelengths. These indicators are suitable for use in fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, fluoroscopy, or any other application that currently utilize fluorescent metal ion indicators.